Road Trip Tales
by ShortySC22
Summary: After Monroe rescued Charlie, they set off for Willoughby. What happens between Charlie wanting to kill him and then wanting to save him?
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Revolution. This story is just for fun, enjoy.**

After Charlie woke the first time and told Monroe to go to hell, she had laid back down and fell asleep without thinking of the consequences of being unguarded in front of Monroe, who she had sworn to get revenge against. Yet, he had saved her twice now. Once in the Tower with her mother right behind him and then again at that bar. She probably would have been fine in the Tower, but in that bar? If it wasn't for Monroe, she would have died without seeing her mom or Miles again. Could she trust him? Obviously he cared for her safety that he had taken her far from the bar and kept watch over her, along with the fact that his first concern was with flushing the drugs out of her system and then finding Miles.

The second time she woke up it was daylight and the rain had stopped, but Monroe was nowhere to be seen. She got up slowly and saw the canteen next to her and drank the water, knowing she still needed to flush the drugs out. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been and knew if Miles found out the circumstances, she'd never hear the end of it. She should have known something was up when there was no one else coming in or out after she entered and that she was the only girl in the place. At first, she thought she was only dreaming when she saw Monroe come in, but he was never who she pictured to save her. He could track her and even if she left now while he was gone, he'd still come after her. She figured two heads would be better than one and if she wasn't going to be able to lose him, better take advantage of him.

She heard the crunching of leaves behind her and turned around, looking for the knife or something that could be used as a weapon, not sure if it was Monroe returning or not. Whipping her head ahead, she breathed a sigh of relief when she found it was just Monroe. When he saw that she was sitting up, he handed her another canteen filled with more water. She accepted the water and nodded, keeping quiet with her head down, not wanting to look him in the eye. She knew she said some really cruel things to him last night after he had saved her life, but there was no need for an apology, he didn't deserve it, not for all that he had done to her family.

While she was drinking the water, he started to pack up and put everything back in the truck that the bounty hunters had been using like an old stagecoach. Charlie remained seated, though she gazed inside the truck while he had the doors open to scope up what weapons had been left and how much food was left. They had a few days of traveling to get back to Willoughby. She wasn't looking forward to the silent days with Monroe because she didn't even know what she would talk about. Miles was always quiet and rarely talked about his past, it was usually her other travel companions that kept her from getting bored and lonely.

"Charlotte? Feeling up to traveling today?" Monroe said. Charlie scrunched her face up, not sure how to take it that of all the people in the world, it was currently Sebastian Monroe who was concerned for her.

"The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get to Miles and my mom," Charlie added, not looking up to meet his eyes, no way was she falling for that again.

"Good, let's get this show on the road." Monroe started to get the horses tied to the makeshift wagon as Charlie got up slowly, making sure that she wouldn't fall asleep as quickly as she did the last time she woke up. As she walked around to the front, Monroe was there to help her up. She tried to push him off but in her currently weakened state, Monroe easily overpowered her. He hoisted her up before walking around to his side and grabbing the reins. When Monroe turned to ask her which direction to head in, Charlie just pointed and leaned back, closing her eyes to signal she did not want to talk. He got the hint at first and sighed a bit. She peered her eyes open after he sighed again, where he opened his mouth to say something, thought about it and just sighed again.

After the fifth time of this, she finally sat up and asked, "What? Do you have something to say?"

He turned to look at her, slowed the horses down a bit, and took a deep breath. "Charlie, I have no idea how long this journey of ours is going to take. I don't know where we're going but I do know it is going to be a long trip if we don't talk."

"What could we possibly have to talk about?" Charlie crossed her arms, not wanting to be friends with Monroe in the slightest. Yes, he was caring for her and made sure she was alive, but that did not make them buddies at all. Then again, he was still very capable of killing her, as he reminded her last night.

"I know Miles. And I know he never talks about himself. Rarely talks in general. Which means you don't know much about Miles as a child. I figured I'd share some stories about us as kids." Charlie's eyes lit up as Monroe told her this. She only remembered bits and pieces of her childhood pre-Blackout and her dad never really talked much about his family. If Monroe knew Miles then, that means he'd also know more about her mom and dad too. And Monroe was right. It was going to be a few days of traveling and the silence would drive her stir crazy. It was obvious Monroe wasn't going to give her weapon and let her at least be a lookout. She'd take what little joy she could and just nodded for Monroe to continue.

"Miles and I have known each other forever. Met the first day of kindergarten. School was different pre-Blackout everywhere. It was organized by age level and kindergarten was the first year of school. The way our classroom was set up, there were different sections and we would rotate around during play time, with desks being set up in the middle. There was a corner filled with books, a mini kitchen set up, art supplies, and my favorite-wooden blocks. It was just luck that Miles and I were both assigned the same play station that first day," Monroe said, pausing just to take a breath.

"I've learned nothing is luck. Everything happens for a reason," Charlie quipped back. Monroe turned and glared at Charlie and she wished she could take those words back and just let him finish the story.

"Well do you want to hear this or not?"

"How do you even remember this, weren't you five?" Charlie asked. She didn't remember much pre-Blackout and she was five when it happened. How could he remember this so clearly?

"First, my mom used to tell us this story over and over again so I could never forget it. Secondly, let me finish this story and it'll show you just why Miles and I are the way we are."

"Go ahead, nothing better to do here."

"I loved building castles and Miles wanted to do the same thing. The other kids in our station, I don't even know what they did but Miles and I had all of the blocks except one on both of our castles. We both reached for the last block and fought over. Miles, ever the smarter one, knew if he let go, I'd fall straight back into my castle and destroy all my hard work."

"How do you know he did it purposely?" Charlie asked, not sure how a five year old could be that evil. Then again, it had been a while since she had been around children. She usually avoided the ones in the village to keep all of her focus on Danny and survival.

"No one smirks like that afterwards if it was an accident. Sneaky bastard." She laughed at this. Charlie saw Monroe smile at the memory and wondered what other tricks Miles had played on Monroe over the years and what Monroe had done to get back at Miles.

"Right, so there I was on the ground with all my hard work destroyed and I pulled one of the blocks from my fallen castle and threw it at his castle to knock it down. Which then led to him throwing blocks at me and me retaliating. And then we were both punished for fighting in school and had to spend the rest of playtime sitting in opposite corners. My mom was not happy with the phone call she received before I even got off the bus that day. I got such a lecture at home but when Miles and I went to school the next day, we ended up playing on the playground together and we were inseparable for years. But that's the story of how I met Miles."

Monroe settled back, as though he was waiting for Charlie to either have a story of her own or even to just comment on his. She didn't know what to say. Obviously he did not appreciate her sarcasm and when she snapped back at him. She knew his patience was very limited and did not want to push those buttons. She didn't know how much he had changed since the Tower, if he had changed at all. Trying to figure Monroe out was like trying to figure her mom out. There were too many lies and hidden truths to ever figure out exactly what their motivations were. After five minutes, she took a deep breath and said, "I can't imagine you and Miles at five years old."

"In what way?" Monroe asked. She saw the confusion on his face and was trying to figure out how to word it without setting him off.

"I don't remember much of Miles, only what I've known the past year. And you, well you're General Sebastian Monroe and I can't picture you as an innocent five year old caught in the crossfire of the evil Miles."

"If they hadn't bombed Philly, you would still be able to."

Now it was Charlie's turn to be confused. She furrowed her brows and glared at Monroe, about ready to demand an explanation, when he started to speak.

"Miles probably figured I had it all burned when he left, but they meant just as much to him as they did to me. You guys were my family too."

"What do you mean, burned it all? What meant so much to you?" Charlie asked, fearing that he'd give her only half of the story, like Miles and her mom always did. It frustrated her to no end. She was old enough to trek around the former US, why couldn't they just tell her? Why did she always have to find out from everyone else?

"After the Blackout, Miles and I set out to find your dad because right before it happened, he called Miles to tell him it would turn off. In fact, their phone call was interrupted, so it's not like your dad knew ahead of time. We were at base in South Carolina and Miles decide after no word from the government, he was going to Chicago and I was going with him. Months later, we made it to your house, but you guys had already abandoned it. Miles boxed a few things up, kept them hidden in the basement, and after we had started the militia, ordered the boxes brought to Philly."

"What were in those boxes?"

"Family pictures, mementos that would mean something to you. My family died in a car crash two years before the Blackout and with Miles and I being Marines, we didn't keep much with us, so I stored a lot of stuff at your house. When we settled in Philly, we wanted our families to be there too. At this point, Miles hadn't found your family yet and the pictures were all we had, besides each other. I think there were some still left in your old house and who knows what got left behind in Jasper." He trailed off, thinking of the last time he was in Jasper and how that did not end well at all.

"Oh right, your hometown, because you left me with such fond memories of that place."

"You were there? But I had told Miles to come alone."

"He did. We found out later where he went and good thing we did. Nora and Jim were the ones who let everyone out of the church you set on fire. I was behind the planters. The whole night was pretty chaotic, I'm not surprised you don't remember seeing me."

"That night is one of those nights I wish I could take back."

"You paused when you started to countdown. Miles mentioned later she was his ex-fiancée and that you all grew up together. What did she tell you that made you stop?"

"She and I had a son. She said she wanted to see him one last time. I told her to get Miles to come out and that's when she told me that she wanted to see her son. Our son. I never knew."

Monroe stopped for a second and Charlie looked away, not wanting to cause trouble and call him out for crying on cue to manipulate her. She wanted to give him his space, but at the same she had so many more questions to be answered. The timeline of events, when was Miles engaged to her? How did they break up and what role did Monroe play in it that he didn't even know she was pregnant? The revelation that Monroe has a son could be the one explanation for why he was being so protective of her all of a sudden, maybe he's trying to make up for all the harm he caused other families? She shook her head, reminding herself that it wasn't the best idea to try and get into Monroe's head. It'd probably only make her head hurt.

Deciding answers were better than having questions hanging over them for the next few days, she started slowly. "Miles had said he was engaged to her once and that you guys all went to high school together. He clammed up pretty fast, but that's it."

"I'll tell you a little more, but answer me this. Who shot her?" Charlie didn't like the tone in Monroe's voice, it was as though she was back in Philly and he was threatening her again. She quickly told him, but apparently it had come out too garbled because he had asked her to repeat herself.

"Captain Dixon. Of the Georgia Federation."

"On whose orders?" Monroe asked, with an intensity in his voice that Charlie had not heard from him.

"No one's orders. Miles said if anyone took the shot, he'd kill them himself. As soon as Emma hit the ground, Miles turned around and shot Captain Dixon."

"Good."

"Now tell me, what happened that led to Miles being engaged to her and you having a child with her?"

"Remember, our world was very different from your own. Miles dealt with it in his own way by drinking his way through senior year of high school." Charlie snorted at that, recalling the night she met Miles at The Grand in Chicago and his drinking throughout the past year. Monroe smirked, probably thinking of his own memories. "As I was saying, Miles was not a school student and wasn't bound for college. Him and Emma were high school sweethearts and he had proposed, she said yes on the condition that they wait until she graduated because she had been given a full ride."

"A full ride? What does that mean?" Why did all the adults always think she knew the slang pre-Blackout? She was smart, but sometimes she felt like an idiot when they'd refer to random things, how could a full ride relate to college?

"A full ride meant she had scholarships covering the cost of tuition and room and board for university. Basically it was a pretty big deal and Miles was fine with it. His plans were to originally stick around Jasper, take up a trade, technical school, but get a job. Well, then he decided to enlist in the Marines without telling Emma. She was not happy about that, but hey, that was Miles."

"That's a big life decision to make without telling your future wife."

"Like I said, that's Miles. Well a few days later, we were all out partying at Split Rock, a place out in the woods where all the teenagers partied back then. Someone must have snitched and everyone raced off. Emma was about to get caught driving drunk so I took the fall for her and switched when the car crashed. Miles was in the backseat passed out because he had started earlier. I ended up losing my scholarship to school and following Miles into Marines. One of the nights, we were at Emma's house when her parents were out of town. As always Miles had started early, drank too fast and passed out on the couch. Emma and I were used to this, covered him with blanket and ending up drinking a few ourselves."

"Why was Miles always drinking?"

"It's probably better for you to ask him that. I'm telling you more than he would as it is. So a few drinks in, Emma and I get to talking and sort of acted on it."

"Wait, what? So you slept with your best friend's fiancée and that led to you having a son with her? No wonder you and Miles have such a terrible friendship and he wanted to kill you. He's wanted to do it since day one."

"Back up Charlotte. It was one time, Emma and I had been drinking," Monroe started but Charlie put her hands up.

"Your best friend is passed out on the couch and you are trying to tell me that drinking led to you sleeping with his fiancée? Still doesn't work with me."

"It was one time. We left for basic training a few weeks later and when we came home, Emma had moved off to school and pretty much never came home. While we were in basic, she sent Miles the engagement ring and told him it was over. I think that's when he really started developing a tolerance for drinking because a handle of whiskey later and he was still bawling his eyes out."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a shitty friend?"

"Not quite that way, but yes."

"Does Miles know about you and Emma?"

"No. Your mom knows I have a son, but that's it. I had my men look for him all over the Republic, but either they are hiding him or he's not there."

"Well when you finally decide to tell Miles, make sure I'm not around. I don't want any part of that fallout," Charlie said, yawning at the end. She hadn't realized that she wasn't fully recovered and hoped Monroe wouldn't notice. Of course, she couldn't be so lucky.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed. If anyone is interested in betaing the story, please let me know.**** I don't own Revolution, this is just for fun.  
**

Shortly after she yawned, she felt her eyes getting heavy and it was getting harder and harder to keep her head up. She leaned back and at the same time felt the makeshift wagon slow down and eventually stopped. Why were they stopped? She opened her eyes and looked to her right but Monroe wasn't there and when she looked around, she didn't see him at first. He came around from behind the truck and reached his hands up to help her down.

"You clearly aren't ready to travel and just need more sleep. It's not super comfortable, but you can at least lie down in the back and I'll wake you up later. If you wake up and are fine to travel up front again, just knock on the window and I'll slow down."

As Charlie slowly grabbed his hands and let him help her down, she wondered if maybe finding out he was a father had changed Monroe. Again, what would his son think of all the horrible deeds, did his son even know about him? She shook her head, not wanting to imagine Monroe's son and would just be grateful that he was helping her now. Once she was off the top, she let go of him and climbed in the back, knowing if he had wanted to kill her, he had multiple chances by now and instead he kept helping her.

This also meant she should at least hold off on killing him, or just wait and let Miles do it when he finds what Monroe had done. No wonder they had such a toxic history, between the way they met all those years ago, to how they treated each other in high school, to multiple attempts at killing each other just in the past year. Right, so why should she bring Monroe right back to Miles? Oh, that's right, because he was the best chance at saving them. With the bounties out for Monroe and her mom, she knew the lethal combination of Miles and Monroe. They did found the Republic together and managed to unite a good portion of the old US.

She drifted off to sleep, grateful Monroe was sticking to one of the old paved roads that hadn't fallen into too much disrepair. This way she was at least able to avoid being jostled too much. Why did he keep having to be nice to her now? He was the one, even if he didn't pull the trigger, that completely destroyed her life. He kept her mother prisoner, her father was dead, she had to leave her quiet life behind. Now she understood why her dad never let her wander too far from home. He knew what was out there and just wanted to keep her safe.

But she had to take the good with the bad, and if it wasn't for the catalyst of her father dying, she would never have been able to get her mother back or see her Uncle Miles. Both of whom she had left back in Willoughby and was now bringing their least favorite person back with her. How was she going to bring Monroe to meet them? She couldn't just walk him through the gates at Willoughby and say "Surprise!" No, that wouldn't go over very well.

She slept in short bursts in the back, even when she was awake, she didn't really want to sit up with Monroe. What other horrible things could he reveal? She was shocked to learn that Miles had raided their house and took pictures of them. It was one thing she wished she had been able to hold on to, but keeping mementos wasn't practical on a cross country trek. She was glad that her grandfather at least had lots of albums and she did enjoy looking at them, but that house was too suffocating and she needed to figure out who she was and get revenge on Monroe. Obviously that second part didn't happen and at this point, probably wouldn't, but she became her own person. Who managed to get trapped with him in an empty pool, then he managed to come after her to take out the bounty hunter after he escaped, and then she almost gets killed in a random bar in north Texas. So maybe she needed to be with her family. At least then she had someone else to look after her and she wouldn't have to worry about Monroe protecting her.

Charlie looked out the grimy windows and realized it was getting dark and hoped they'd stop somewhere halfway decent to sleep. She knew with the bounties, he'd want to avoid any towns, but in this part of the country there were plenty of homes that had been abandoned and maybe they'd be able to sleep in real beds, something she hadn't done in a long time. She knocked on the window and the truck stopped. Monroe opened the door and by down she was feeling well enough to climb up on her own, waving off his hands.

"Sleep well?"

She still couldn't get over the fact that this was the same man who destroyed the world and the first thing he did when he got power was weaponize his nation, rather than help his people, but he was asking if she had slept well? She nodded in response, knowing if she didn't response, he'd just pester her more and she wasn't ready for another history lesson on crazy Monroe.

"There looks like a small ranch up ahead, it looks abandoned too. Hopefully there's a bed for you tonight."

"While I appreciate the thought, you need sleep too. You don't need to constantly watch over me," she said. She hated it when everyone treated her like a child and had thought Monroe might be the one person who wouldn't expect her to break any second.

"And can I trust you enough to not try and kill me in my sleep?" Monroe said and Charlie wasn't sure if he was mocking her or if he was being serious, so she decided to throw his own words back in his face.

"Well consider it repayment for your show of faith. I think I've slept plenty over the past two days and there's no way you've slept that much. It's still another three days to where we are going."

"Still not telling me the name of the town? You really think I could leave you behind and just show up where ever your mom and Miles are?"

In fact, that's exactly what she thought, until she realized that neither one of them would probably welcome him at all. Her mom would probably shoot first and ask questions later and Miles, well she knew Miles wouldn't be able to kill Monroe, seriously harm him, maybe. Cause a scene, absolutely.

"So what? I'm your bargaining chip now?" Now she was getting angry, she didn't want to be played for a fool.

"No, Charlotte, you're going to facilitate a conversation with them because they need to understand something about these bounties. You were there in the Tower. Randal pushed the button. He had something to do with these guys. What is their agenda? Fifteen years and now they want to restart the good ole US of A?"

"Fine. Still don't get what they want with my mom. You? That's easy. But how could they have known about my mom?"

"The government ran the Tower. Your mom knew to go straight there. Randal was able to find her former coworkers when she wouldn't help me. They know way more about this than we were ever let into the secret."

The house became clearer and Charlie saw that the ranch looked abandoned based on the amount of overgrowth leading up to the house. At least there was a fireplace so they'd be able to cook a decent meal indoors and hopefully there were enough beds for them to be on opposite sides of the house. Knowing Monroe though, he probably wouldn't let her out of his sight but all she wanted was a little bit of privacy. The afternoon naps did her some good and she felt like she was back to full strength, finally. She would definitely have to make sure Monroe did not tell Miles the details surrounding how they ended up traveling together.

As they approached the house, Charlie noticed Monroe tensing up and she was about to ask him what was going on when he quickly jumped off, handed her one of his swords, put his finger to his lip to tell her to keep quiet and motioned her to follow him. One thing she had learned from being with Miles was to trust his instincts and that was why she kept silent as she followed him around. Despite the appearance that the ranch was abandoned, it could be that bandits how just taken up residence recently or were just passing through the same way they were.

When the first of the bandits ran forward, Monroe turned to have his back towards Charlie's back, with the bandits surrounding them. She couldn't keep count, but noticed more coming. Somehow, Monroe knew exactly where she would be and managed to protect all of her blind spots. When the bandits stopped coming she looked around and noticed ten bodies. She wasn't sure how many she had taken out, but figured it was less than Monroe. Monroe was already in the back of the truck, grabbing a shovel out of the back to dig a hole to hide the bodies of the bandits in. Charlie would have offered to help, but she guessed the running around didn't help and now she was back to being tired again. She didn't know how Monroe managed, he had almost no sleep.

They weren't too far from the house and Charlie called out to say she was going to scope out the inside of the house. If they were lucky, the previous owners would have left some food and toiletries behind. There was a metal washbin outside near the pump. She saw a stack of firewood and went inside to inspect the condition of the fireplace. The fireplace looked large enough inside to cook a simple meal for two, but it wouldn't be large enough to heat the water for a nice bath. She found the bathroom easily enough and was glad to see that there was a tub. Now to just figure out the best way to get warm water into the tub and she'd be all set. She opened the cabinet under the sink and found that there was some shampoo and soap. At least she'd have a nice bath tonight.

Her next mission was to scope out the cupboards in the kitchen. At least whoever lived her before had cleaned out the fridge so nothing was rotten. She found some candles and matches and set some out on the kitchen table before putting some in the bathroom. She didn't want to start dinner without Monroe, figuring he knew better what would around here or what was stocked in the back of the truck. He may have been fine now but she didn't want to set him off. She explored the cabinets some more and found some tea and coffee in unopened containers, something she hadn't seen in a very long time. Even better, it was instant coffee so they could make some before they left and keep it with them on the road.

Unfortunately, the house only had one bedroom with only one bed. There was a couch in the living room, but there was just one large bed in the bedroom. She was not sharing with Monroe, no way, no how. She walked towards the closet, scoping out the rest of the room. Everything seemed to be too nice and neat, considering they just fought bandits on their way in. She opened the closet and saw dresses, coats, and skirts on one side with suits on the other side. It was most likely an older couple who had lived here in the past, based on the styles of clothes hanging. At the bottom of the closet she found several pairs of high heels, which shoes she could never understand the function. Why did you need to be taller? They hurt and you couldn't run very fast in them. As she was rummaging through the bottom of the closet to find anything else, she heard Monroe cough to get her attention. She looked up to see him leaning against the door frame.

"Find anything interesting?"

"There's some shampoo and soap in the bathroom and I found instant coffee in the kitchen. I'm surprised we found bandits because this house is really clean still."

"The bandits may have been following us, who knows. You should have the bed. It's easier to defend than the living room anyway."

"You should sleep first after dinner. Then I just need to figure out how to heat up enough water to have a decent bath. Should take advantage of it while we can." Charlie knew she was going to enjoy having hot water and some clean soap to be able to get off all of the grime from the past few days. Even though she was used to field conditions after this past year, it didn't mean she had to enjoy it.

"There should be some cans of food in the truck. If you get started on dinner, I'll start a fire outside and use the washbin to heat up water to start a bath for you," Monroe added as he walked out the backdoor towards the pump. She was not going to be able to get used to nice Monroe, but at least she could make dinner. There were cans of vegetables and some chicken soup. She figured she'd take two can of vegetables and one can of the chicken soup and mix them all in one pot to make a better meal for the two of them. She went to the kitchen to find a pot and spoon and saw he had already started a fire in the fireplace.

Dinner was eaten silently, with Monroe keeping an eye on the fire outside and bringing in the buckets of boiling water periodically. Charlie's excitement grew at the thought of nice hot bath and being able to be fully clean. Plus she'd be able to wash at her wounds. After cleaning up the dinner, she headed towards the bathroom until Monroe called out to her.

"Charlie, check the closet. See if there's anything for you to wear to sleep. This way while I take a bath you can wash your clothes and they'll be clean for tomorrow. I want to get an early start and spend as much time as we can on the road. We don't know how many other bounty hunters and bandits we will run into on this road." She wasn't about to disagree with him, but she thought they should stay and rest up longer, but he was in charge and at least she was getting to take a bath first.

"You should check it now too, I can wash your clothes with mine." As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted to take them back, but he had been doing so much for her and if it saved them some time, so be it. She moved to the closet to look for something but ended up going to the dresser and finding sweatpants and a tank top there. She darted quickly into the bathroom, noticing that the water was still steaming and at the perfect level. She settled in, dipping her toes in slowly to get used to the hot water and letting the grime just melt off of her. Her eyes became heavy and she settled deeper into the tub, but not before washing her hair first and taking in the fancy smell of the shampoo. She tried to see what the bottle said, but it was only a clear bottle. She let her thoughts wander as her eyes closed again. This was what heaven must feel like, she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and followed so far. I'm still overwhelmed at the response this story is receiving. Once again, I don't own Revolution, this is just for fun. Enjoy!**

A knock at the door disturbed Charlie from her rest. When she looked out the window she realized just how dark it had gotten and figured it saw time to drain the tub and dry off. There were fluffy towels under the sink and she was so happy to have something nice for once. It was a shame they'd only be here for a short time, she could get used to this. She put on the clean clothes and gathered up her dirty ones, heading out back. Monroe was already back there to start filling up the water for his bath and she noticed he had already changed into clothes from the closet. She stayed out of his way as he came in and out periodically, with him staying outside when he wasn't filling the tub. She looked around the living room, trying to figure out more about the couple who had originally owned this house. She heard her name and turned around to see a shirtless Monroe with his dirty clothes in his arms.

After she grabbed the clothes from him, he added, "Thanks Charlie. There's another pot of hot water outside. Here," he handed her some soap from in the bathroom, "this way we won't smell so terrible the next few days." She nodded and head back out to scrub down the clothes with soap and hot water first, then dumping the dirty water and refilling it to rinse everything off. She looked around to find somewhere to hang it, but figured the bathroom shower would be the best spot. These were good clothes for traveling in and she didn't want them stolen if they were hanging outside. She knocked lightly on the bathroom door.

"The clothes are washed. When you're done, let me know and I can hang them in the shower so they can dry. Eep!" She jumped back as the door opened and he stepped out.

"I'm done now. Are you tired?"

"Why?" she asked, still not used to his concern. She figured it was better to constantly be suspicious, rather than get used to him.

"I found a deck of cards while you were taking a bath. If you're up for it, we can play some card games before bed."

"Sure. What games did you have in mind? I don't know very many," Charlie said, remembering some card games she had played back in Sylvania Estates, but a lot of them were more than two player games or children's games she didn't think he'd want to play. Monroe move to the coffee table in the living and motioned her to sit down on the other side.

"Two games come to mind, War and Spit, do you know either of those?"

"Like I really want to play War with you," she sneered.

"Do you even know how to play?"

"No."

"The main difference in the games is that War is a very slow game. Spit is much faster paced, but they're both long. Your choice."

"Let's go with Spit."

"Here, I'll shuffle then deal. We split the pile the in half. The object is to get rid of all of the cards. You deal out five stacks of cards in front of you. Stack 1 has 1 card, Stack 2 has 2 cards, et cetera. After you deal them out, flip just the top card of over. After we are both set up, then we each take one of the cards from our extra pile and flip it over. Using one hand at a time, you move the cards in front of you to the two piles in the front, going up or down one number. When you have put all of your cards out, you want to slap the lowest pile. Then you take the lowest pile and we go again until one of runs out of cards. It's confusing at first, but I'll go slow until you get the hang of it."

She was confused at first, but after a few rounds, they were both laughing as she snuck her hand under his to beat him to the lowest pile and win the round. She was surprised at how much fun she was having playing a simple card game with Monroe. It was nice to not have to worry for a few hours if she was going to die or where the attack was going to come from next. Monroe had already proved himself, he wasn't going to kill her, at least not yet. She might as well enjoy it before getting back into it and now going after the Patriots. Once again, her eyes started to droop, but not before Monroe managed to smack the last pile to win the game.

"Have fun?" He asked her as he put the cards back in their box.

"Yeah."

"Then don't forget the cards when we leave in the morning. Sleep well, I'll be on the couch. Keep your crossbow near you, we still don't know what's around in the area and where those bandits came from, if they were part of a larger group or not."

Charlie got up from her position and looked around the living room once more, as Monroe grabbed a blanket off the couch and made himself comfortable. She blew out the candles in the bathroom and moved the ones from the kitchen onto the coffee table, knowing that if they were attacked, at least having a little light would give them some advantage. Since it wasn't too cold, they had already put out the fire in the fireplace. She grabbed one of the larger candles and moved towards the bedroom, putting the candle on the dresser before easing herself into the large bed. It was definitely one of the nicer beds she had slept in, the nicest in several weeks, that's for sure.

It was why she was surprised in the morning when it was really bright out and she smelled some food cooking. She crawled out of bed, feel refreshed and seeing the candle had put itself out at some point during the night. Her crossbow was right where she left it and she headed out to the living room to find Monroe cooking what looked like something he had caught that morning. At least it was better than some canned food. Her stomach always preferred fresh game meat to canned vegetables. Then she remembered her manners.

"Good morning," she mumbled, trying not to be too happy to see him.

"Morning. I figured I'd let you sleep in while I make breakfast. Fresh caught rabbit today. I also found a little something else while you were sleeping," he said as he shook some bottles. She wasn't sure exactly what they were and it must have shown on her face, as he continued, "the previous owners had a whole stash of liquor. If we're going to see Miles, trust me, he will be able to stand being near me with some of this. His favorites that we haven't found in a while. No drinking for you until we get back though."

She thought maybe it was dig at her needing to be saved by him the last time she drank, but either way, she did need to be fully alert the next few days. Just two more days of traveling with Monroe and then he was no longer her problem. Miles may not be able to kill Monroe, but her mom was pretty unpredictable and who knew what state her mind was in currently. Then again, Monroe would probably make a good watchdog if he didn't get too crazy. She shook her head and realized she was going home. That's what mattered in the end was getting home.

With Monroe at the fireplace, she headed into the kitchen to grab plates and forks to have a civilized meal. Hopefully they'd be back in Willoughby in two days, as long as they didn't run into any bad weather or any more bandits. She set them out on the coffee table, adding an extra plate to put the cooked meat on and realized they didn't have any cups or any water. She found a pitcher and went outside to grab water. When she opened the door, she saw Monroe snap his head up, but she just waved the water pitcher and he just nodded. At least he wasn't trying to get her talk and just understood her need to be silent.

The sun was bright and she almost wished she could find a practical hat or sunglasses, but when she had looked around yesterday there only seemed to be frilly hats that wouldn't keep the sun out of her eyes. She could pretend to still be tired from the drugs and just keep her eyes closed. Maybe then he wouldn't talk to her, but at the same time she wanted to find out more about Miles. And if Monroe knew Miles well enough, he had to know more about her father and grandparents too. All she had to try and do was direct the conversation to that topic and avoid recent history. She did not want to know how Miles ended up founding the Republic or what happened to her mom while she was being held captive in Philly. No, she wanted to know what happened prior to the Blackout.

When she came back inside, she put the water pitcher on the table. He grabbed it, poured water in a pot, and put straight in the fireplace before pouring both of them a glass of water. She sat at the coffee table and started to pick at one of the rabbits, leaving the other one for him. She watched him closely, finding it odd he was putting strips of fabric in the pot of boiling water and then putting it aside as he started in on his rabbit.

Breakfast was mostly eaten in silence, but when he grabbed the fabric out of the pot and started to wrap it around his arm, that's when she noticed the circular burn mark on his forearm. He must have noticed her staring because he spoke up first.

"Did your uncle ever tell you where the symbol for the Republic came from?" He glanced at her arm, maybe hoping she'd open up and tell him about how she got the mark on her arm. She moved her arm to be under the coffee table so he couldn't see it anymore and answered with a resounding no.

"It was a symbol we came up with when we were kids. It stood for Monroe and Matheson and it was something we used to draw on our arms. When we grew up, it was one of those symbols of rebellion. We debated for years about getting them tattooed on our forearms in the same spot we used to draw them on. The two of us were always close growing up, we ruled the world together, or so we thought," Charlie scoffed at that, the two of them did end up ruling a nation for a while.

"As I was saying, it wasn't until my family died that we finally decided to go for it. He was the only family I had left, I'd do anything for him and he'd do the same for me. It took us a while to find the time and the right artist, but I managed to get mine done before the Blackout, several months before while we were stationed at Parris Island in South Carolina. It was the symbol plus Monroe below it. Obviously, the government knows about it, it was one of the things that identified me. After they nuked Philly, I knew they'd try and blame me somehow. I burned it off before I started fighting in New Vegas. One it's a dead giveaway for who I am and two, I felt I had to atone for my sins. I told you it was my job to protect those in Philly and they burned in their skins because of me. Now I'm just careful to not let it get infected."

She was quiet, not sure how to respond to Monroe's heartfelt confession. Knowing he was still a loose cannon, she didn't want to set him off the same way she did before when she accused him of crying at will to manipulate people. Plus his speech had raised some more questions of her own, like his family dying and Miles being all that he had left. Now the problem was, where to start? So she just took a deep breath and asked, "What did you mean about Miles being the only family you had left?"

"Two years before the Blackout, my parents and two younger sisters were on their way to see a Harry Potter movie when a drunk driver crossed the median and killed them in a car crash. In the blink of an eye, my whole family was dead and I was left alone in the world." Monroe hung his head low, not wanting to meet her eyes.

"I know about Harry Potter, no matter where we were, almost every house had a set of those books." She couldn't bring herself to say that she was sorry to hear about his loss, when it was his fault her father, brother and Maggie were dead and who knows how many countless other families were torn apart by the militia. She remembered those orphans living in the school near the conscription boat and just had to separate General Monroe from the Monroe who was sitting in front of her. That was the only way she'd be able to get through the next few days and possibly weeks with him hanging around.

"It was by far one of the most popular children's stories of the time and the movies were incredibly successful. It was why my family was even on the road that late, my parents had decided to treat my sisters and take them to the midnight movie showing so they would see it first." Charlie just nodded, even though she couldn't really understand the concept of midnight movie.

"Why was a midnight movie so special?"

"I sometimes forget how young you are. It was just the first time they would air the movie. Miles, being Miles, he can predict most of my thoughts. After the funeral, he found me almost through a bottle of whiskey in the cemetery with a gun and coaxed the gun out of my hands." These next few days were going to be very interesting if he was revealing these sorts of details right away to get her trust him. Miles managed to talk Monroe out of suicide? No wonder Monroe clung to Miles for so long and why in the end Miles could never pull the trigger. They really were brothers through thick and thin.

"I think that's enough. We really need to get on the road. Grab up any other supplies from the house you think might be useful to you, even after we get where we're going." Charlie darted off to the bathroom, she wasn't sure what the scent of the shampoo was but she enjoyed it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks again to those who reviewed, favorited, and followed. I'm glad to see so many people like this story. Once again, I do not own Revolution, this is just for fun. Enjoy!**

She found a small suitcase in the closet and went around the house grabbing a few things she thought might be appropriate, some clothes from the closet for her and Monroe, toiletries from the bathroom, coffee and tea from the kitchen. The truck had basic supplies to get them through but it was nice to have some more in case they delayed, plus he had been so excited over the liquor, she tried to find another bag to put all the liquor in so the bottle wouldn't get smashed on the journey. When she went outside with the two bags and her crossbow slung over her shoulder, she found Monroe filling the washbin with water for the horses and loading a few other things into the back of the truck. She handed the bags to Monroe to put in the back while she hopped up front, without his help for once.

After this morning's awkward conversation, Charlie was not about to ask him any questions or push Monroe to talk. She just wanted to get on the road and back to Miles. Later, she reasoned, she'd have to nicely ask Monroe not reveal the exact details surrounding why she needed rescue. She'd tell the truth, yes Monroe saved her life, but Miles definitely did not need to know more than that. She heard the door slam in the back and then Monroe hopped up next to her. He grabbed the reins and off they went. She was glad they were sticking to a main road, this way she'd be able to find out how many miles they had left to go. Willoughby wasn't a large town prior to the Blackout out but for some reason it was used for distances. They had traveled about five miles when Monroe turned towards her and spoke up.

"Obviously this morning's talk was a little heavy. Why don't I tell you some more stories about Miles?"

"Sure."

"After our first year of school, I convinced Miles that we should sign up together to do tee-ball. It's a game similar to baseball, but for little kids who hit the ball off of a stand. I had played tee-ball before but Miles never had. I enjoyed it, but Miles could never get the hang of it. In fact, after one particularly bad game, which really didn't matter because the points never mattered and the games always ended in a tie to be fair, Miles yelled, 'who signed me up for this?' glaring at me the entire car ride home." Charlie laughed, trying to picture an indignant Miles and an insulted Monroe sitting in a car together.

Monroe continued, "When my mom dropped him off, he just ran straight into the house. He tried to convince your grandparents to let him quit, but since he was the one who even wanted to sign up for it the first place, they wouldn't let him. Of course that meant he just took it out on me the rest of the summer. Meanwhile, I loved baseball and kept up with it, but I never again tried to convince Miles."

"You know these stories just help to explain the dysfunctional relationship the two of you have with each other."

"Funny, Neville said I had a borderline erotic fixation on Miles when we were outside of the Tower."

"Still not surprised. I met Captain Baker, he was the one who revealed to me that Miles was the head of the militia and he was insistent that Miles was to be brought in alive."

"And here it's my turn not to be surprised that Miles didn't tell you anything. I'm warning you now, Miles will keep you out of the loop and then shock you. Remember, I had no idea he was going to kill me."

"Yeah well, I don't think it would have mattered if he had tried to talk to you. Miles said you were off the rails by then."

"Fine, how about another story? My ninth birthday party."

"Sure, but what was so special about your ninth birthday?" Charlie didn't put much into birthdays. Once they had settled into Sylvania Estates, a birthday dinner was a little dessert and you got a little extra for the meal. She never really had many friends, there weren't many people her age where they lived. Dinner was a quiet reflection time of where they had come in the past year.

"Let me tell you. Another thing to remember about pre-Blackout was the extravagant children's birthday parties. There were some the themed around movies that were popular, TV shows, silly party games, pool parties, bowling parties. There were even special venues dedicated just to hosting a child's fun birthday party. Anyway, for my ninth birthday, my parents rented out the local gym so we could play Dodgeball. Do you know the game of Dodgeball?"

"I can guess at what it means," she answered.

"Well the object of the game is to take the ball, throw it at a player on the other team to get them out. When the other team is completely out, your team wins. Well I was a little vicious," which earned him another snort from Charlie and a mumble.

"What was that?"

"I said, understatement of the year."

"Charlie, I was nine! I ended up throwing the ball too hard and gave one of the guests, Brian Duffy, a concussion. Of course we didn't know it right away. It wasn't until we got to the cake. Oh that cake! Worst birthday cake I ever had. It was coconut. My mom thought she'd be creative and make it herself. She should have just ordered a chocolate cake, we would have eaten it then. Have you ever had coconut?"

"Not that I can remember." She did remember her last tastes of ice cream and only wished she could remember more foreign flavors that everyone else seemed to remember.

"Consider yourself lucky. Coconut was generally shredded and so Mom had put coconut flakes mixed in with something else and then used coconut milk in the actual cake batter. Well, as we sit down to eat the cake, Brian puked all over. At first Miles and I just thought it was the cake, nope, turned out I gave the kid a concussion. But at least it was a good excuse not to eat the terrible cake."

"Definitely a story to tell your grandkids. Now tell me more stories about Miles."

"Fine, fine. Patience young grasshopper. I don't know if you could tell but your dad got all the booksmart genes in the family. He was part of turning off the power after all."

"You know, sometimes I wonder if I knew my parents at all."

"Most parents keep secrets from their kids. Yours just kept larger ones. Meanwhile, Miles had the common sense and street smarts. He couldn't wait to graduate high school and be done with school. As I told you earlier, the school system was very different from how it is now. In high school, you'd take multiple classes every day and get a choice of what classes to take. Now Miles, he took the basic requirements and then would pick other classes, woodshop, mechanics, anything to get him working with his hands. He was also not one to study or do homework. We had Spanish together and the teacher called him up to her desk after class ended. He waved me off, but I waited in the hallway and listened to the conversation. When the teacher asked why he wasn't handing in the homework, he said clearly, 'don't take it personally, I don't do anyone's homework.' That's probably the best example of Miles's work ethic towards something he doesn't care about. He never understood the point of assigning homework just to give busy work."

"Aaron was my school teacher and we really didn't have homework or school the way you did. Danny and I were the oldest students, so we usually skipped out to go hunting. But really, we'd go exploring," she paused, remembering all of the mischief she got up to and how much her dad hated when she'd go off. He wanted her stay in their village and now she understood why. He was just trying to protect her, mostly from Monroe, the man who was sitting next to her. "I kept a box of postcards, Chicago, New York. I always wanted to go see the world, even if I knew the cities would never look like the postcards with their twinkling lights. Chicago was a different world by the time I visited."

"The skyscrapers are still in the cities, but New York is not the same at all since the Blackout. It used to have this magical aura about it, now it's just a wasteland. There's no way we'd ever be able to clean it up, there were just so many people living there and without power, people died everywhere. It's a shame, really. The Statue of Liberty is one of the most magnificent sights to see but getting there isn't easy. I don't even know how large the bomb's fallout area ended up being, it'd be impossible for us to go anywhere near the area."

"Fallout area?"

"All this science stuff would probably be better explained by your mom, but I will try my best. When a nuke goes off it creates a tremendous amount of radiation for about a 2 mile radius. It can linger for a while and travel based on the winds. Anyway radiation sickness is a lifelong problem. Really, your mom probably knows a lot more about it."

"And yet, you were all set to nuke Atlanta, even got as far as having the nuke in Atlanta, ready to detonate. If it wasn't for Miles and I being in Atlanta, it would have gone off."

"I have come a long way from the man I was six months ago. I have a lot to atone for and I know I will never be able to make up for it, not for a long shot." Charlie didn't know what to say next. She had to avoid fighting against him, at least until they made it to Willoughby. She needed to fight with him, she couldn't let her own damn trust screw her over again.

She leaned back, not making eye contact with him. She shifted in her seat to look the other direction, making sure to keep an eye on the road signs. Just two more days and they'd be back in Willoughby, provided nothing else delayed them. Now she just needed to think of a plan to bring Monroe to town. Obviously, he couldn't come in through the gates, even if his face wasn't well recognized in Texas, there's no way her mom could manage to stay calm. Hell, she wasn't sure how Miles was going to react. She could hardly predict Miles on a good day, and certainly never when it came to Monroe. Granted, after listening to some of the tales Monroe was telling, she understood how their relationship was a lot more volatile and dysfunctional than she first imagined.

Monroe must have sensed that she didn't want to talk anymore, she did learn an awful lot about him, things he probably didn't open up to many people. He handed her some of the leftover meat from breakfast this morning and the canteen and they ate their lunch in silence. Better to keep on the road since they were both eager to get to their destination. She tried not to think too much, she'd still have another two days on the road. She closed her eyes again, not wanting to even think about where she was.

The truck slowed and Monroe shook her a little, pushing her crossbow into her hands. As much as he loved talking while they were settled, she learned that when there was a fight, it was all about his eyes and facial expressions. He had a heightened sense of awareness, even moreso than she did. The truck was led into the woods a bit off the road, with him jumping down and motioning her to follow. It was important to keep the truck out of sight so that they couldn't be ambushed as easily. When they went back up towards the road, still hiding behind some bushes, he peered out on one side and she took the other. It was just a couple on two horses. Monroe let out a sigh and Charlie was glad that it wasn't any one else. They waited until the couple went past and even then, Monroe kept pushing her down, shaking his head. She knew that they wanted to wait until the couple was further down the road, but Charlie really didn't want to waste too much time just sitting around hiding.

As she was about to get up and head back to where they had hid the truck, Monroe pushed her back down, jumped over the bushes and gutted the two men who looked like they were about to attack her. How could she have dropped her guard once again? And why did he have to be the one to save her again. He grabbed both of their guns and then helped her to her feet. She brushed the dirt off and stalked back to the truck, leaving Monroe to catch up, which of course he did. He decided to walk exactly at her pace, neither slower nor faster and it was driving her crazy. As she sped up, he would. When she'd slow down, he would too. Great, she got it now. She just traded her overprotective uncle for an overprotective psychopath. But at least she didn't feel like Monroe was keeping stuff deliberately from her, the way her mom and Miles would whisper and think she couldn't hear. Or deflect any questions. Monroe would try to answer, even if he couldn't.

When they reached the truck she climbed on her side and he climbed on his side and the headed back towards the main road. They sat in silence for a little while longer, before Charlie noticed Monroe constantly looking at her arm. She wanted to tell him the story, but at the same time, she really didn't want to talk about it. Aha, genius idea! She took a deep breath before beginning with her proposition.

"I will tell you the story of the brand, if you will promise me one thing."

"Depends on what you make me promise first, let's hear it and then you can tell the story."

"Before I left Miles told me to keep my stupid to a minimum. Obviously getting drugged in a bar is not part of that. Just promise me you won't tell him. I'll tell him you saved my life, but not in detail," Charlie said, making eye contact with him briefly, just to see him nod.

"I promise, I won't be the one to tell Miles. Just try to have Miles not shoot me on the spot," Monroe added.

"I can't promise you that at all. You know Miles better than me. Anyway, the brand. While we were on our way from Chicago to Philly to rescue Danny, we came across a bunch of orphans living in an old schoolhouse. The oldest, Peter, had just been dragged off to a conscription boat. We didn't know this at the time when we agreed to help Peter's brother get him back. The easiest way to infiltrate the boat and get Peter out was for me to get in. Of course, it's never that simple and when I was caught causing trouble, they gave me the brand. The only reason we even managed to escape was because Aaron had been in the lighthouse with the pendant and when the lighthouse lit up, it distracted the militia enough for Miles and Nora to help me free everyone. It came in handy a few other times, it's the reason we were able to escape Philly so easily." Charlie looked proud of herself, that even in the worst case, she still managed to turn it around into something positive.

They continued on for a few more hours, until it started to get dark. There didn't seem to be any houses not too far from the road, so once again they were pulling off. They had been fortunate that there was a stream that ran alongside the road at this point. She remembered when she first woke up, Monroe had built a little shelter, but they had also been there for almost two days and it had been raining. She jumped down to start a small fire for dinner as he opened the back of the truck and grabbed the washbin to fill with water for the horses to drink. She grabbed the pot out and opened another can of vegetables, sticking to something simple for dinner.

Dinner was eaten in silence, it had been a long day. Afterwards, she headed to the stream to clean up from dinner and refill their canteens. When she came back she found one of the bedrolls set up in the truck and the other on the ground outside. Monroe nodded his head towards the inside for her and she sat on the edge of the truck, not quite ready to go to sleep yet, but she didn't really want to sit up and have another heart to heart with Monroe. Since they were in the woods, she made sure her crossbow was right next to her. It also meant no games of Spit tonight because the game got a little heated last night and while they were out in the open like this, they didn't want to draw any attention to themselves. Instead, she settled back in the truck and let Monroe watch after her, finally trusting that he had her best interests at heart, at least until they reached their destination.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you so much to those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited. Once again, I don't own Revolution, but I hope you enjoy this story!**

Charlie slept fine, but then she heard the distinct sound of raindrops on the top of the truck. She sat up, peeking out the back to look for Monroe. She was surprised to see him sitting against the tree, his knees pulled to his chest. He looked so beaten down, with the rain coming down. What was this? Was she feeling bad for Monroe? But she couldn't let him sit outside in the rain, not when they had the truck to shelter them. It'd be a bit crowded with the two of them, since there were shelves built on the sides, but they'd manage. At least she could offer.

"Pssst, Monroe, come sit here," she patted the space next to her inside the truck. He looked up at her with confusion on his face before looking around at the sky. She looked up to where he was looking and saw how much darker those clouds appeared. Now she was glad she woke up and just hoped he'd come in. The last thing she needed right now was for Monroe to catch a chill because he been outside in the soaking rain when he could have been under cover with her. She did not want to play nursemaid, plus it'd slow them down considerably and they really didn't have that much further.

He got up slowly and dusted himself off before sitting on the edge of the truck, his back against one side of the truck and his feet stretched out to the other side. Charlie moved further in the truck, hugging her knees to her chest. The temperature dropped more as the rain fell harder and she shivered slightly. Now she wished she had taken more of the blankets from the house they had found. She glanced around, but didn't see anything, only Monroe staring at her, which made her shiver more. Not only did she not grab any blankets, she also failed to grab more warm clothes. Meanwhile Monroe had moved to sit next to her, even though it was a tight squeeze. She tried to push him away but instead, he moved closer.

"Charlie, you're shivering. Here," he pulled off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. "We have to both get where ever we are going in one piece and healthy. Last thing I need is for you to catch a common cold." Funny, that's the exact thing she was thinking of when she invited him to sit here in the first place. They were partners, thrown together by circumstance. She leaned into his shoulder, gently placing her head down at first before burrowing in to make herself comfortable, not worrying about how Monroe felt about it.

Even though it wasn't the most comfortable position, she managed to sleep the whole night. When she woke up, she tried to move but found that Monroe's head had ended up on top of hers at some point during the night and he must have wrapped his arm around, almost in a protective embrace. She slithered out of his embrace, trying not to wake him, but she knew when she moved, he was going to wake up as soon as his head dropped. She didn't want to be right, but her luck was never on her side. At least not recently.

Now that Monroe was awake, he jumped out of the truck to start cleaning up their camp while Charlie got fresh water from the stream for their canteens and for the horses. She found some food in the back of the truck, handing some to Monroe before putting all the supplies back in the truck and closing the door behind her. Monroe walked around to the other side and they both hopped up to resume their riding positions. This morning started out in silence and Charlie wasn't sure what she wanted to hear next. She really didn't want to be digging too much through Monroe's past, only to bring up the atrocities he committed while he was General Monroe.

It was mid-morning before Monroe decided to speak up and start in on one of the stories for today, as Charlie had dubbed them in her head. She hoped it was about Miles with no mentions of Monroe, those stories were funnier.

"I already told you that your dad was the booksmart one and that Miles loved to work with his hands, right?" She nodded, wondering where he was going with opening line. "Well, your dad was three years older than us so when he was in first year at college, we were still sophomores in high school, our second year. Miles was taking mechanics and pretty much any time he talked to Ben on the phone he was just gushing over what new thing he had learned in mechanics and about this part in the car and whatnot. I don't know all the details but I know your dad was double majoring in mechanical and electrical engineering and studying computer science on the side. Genius work really. Not a surprise he was able to turn off the power, should have seen it sooner. Anyway, he was doing a lot of freelance work at the time, earning a lot of money. To surprise Miles for his birthday, Ben bought Miles some 1970s muscle car. You'd think for the amount of times I heard Miles talk about this car, I'd remember more details."

"What's a muscle car?" Charlie thought they had such a funny way of describing things pre-Blackout. She knew about cars and how amazing they were in their ability to get from place to place, she remembered riding in them all the time but didn't get all the details or why would a car be a muscle car?

"Seriously? It's a car that was designed to go fast. Miles is the car person, I just knew how to get girls in the backseat. Well this car was a piece of crap. Didn't work and Ben bought it outright, knowing it didn't work. But that was the whole purpose, it was supposed to be a project between Miles and Ben to fix up the car to be efficient. Ben would be able to tweak the engine to be more gas efficient, since the 1970s wasn't known for that and Miles would be able to fix it up and make it his own. Every time Ben came home from college his first year it was all about him and Miles and fixing up that car so that as soon as Miles got his license, he could drive it around and show off. After the car was finished though, that's another story."

Charlie smiled. She wanted to hear more stories about her dad and Miles. Her dad never talked about Miles, probably to keep her from asking too many questions and trying to find him. And Miles? Miles never talked about much, other than he respected her father and that she was to never, ever disrespect him again. She didn't want to push too much, but once Monroe started, she wanted to hear more.

"How about that other story?" she asked, hoping he'd continue and not leave her hanging like that.

"Once the car was finished, Miles and Emma had gotten together and it was Miles, Emma, and I against the world. Ben only came home for Christmas break and even then, it was just for Christmas and New Year's and then he was right back to school. Trying to double major was proving to be too challenging and your dad ended up dropping the mechanical engineering, switching to computer science and focusing all his free time on experimental research. You see, he was one of the lucky few undergraduate students to be mentored by a professor. Family was still important to them, but their lives diverged a bit. Still, I don't think I've ever seen your uncle smile as much as he did when he got your baby picture."

"I have a feeling there's a story here too," Charlie said, smiling again since the story was going to be about here this time.

"I'll tell you the story if you tell me about how much longer we have on this fun road trip."

"As long as there are no more obstacles, we should be there tomorrow before noon," Charlie said, not sure how she felt about the road trip ending. On one hand, she was glad she was going back to see Miles, her mom, her grandfather, and Aaron. On the other hand, Monroe was being honest and she was learning a lot about her family that they wouldn't tell her. Monroe didn't dodge the questions the way her mom and Miles did and for that, she was grateful.

"Good, there's still a few more fun stories I can tell you. We were stationed in Iraq when you were born, so your dad told Miles over the phone, but your mom, oh that wasn't enough. I don't know if you remember it but your mom wasn't the best at baking desserts. It was customary to send care packages to those stationed overseas and while we had been visiting your parents before, Miles fell in love with these cookies from a bakery around the corner. Your mom sent us almost three pounds of cookies and a bunch of pictures of scrunched up little you. For someone who loved his desserts, I think I ate most of the cookies because Miles was too busy flipping through pictures of you. Your dad holding you, your mom holding you, your grandfather. He made sure to carry one of you at all times, stuffed in his pocket. You'd almost think you were his daughter, the way he carried on about you."

Charlie was happy with the way today's stories were going. They were all happy tales about life prior to the Blackout, before her family was cruelly ripped apart, before her parents destroyed the world, twice. Before her uncle became the "Butcher of Baltimore" only to leave that world behind and get wrapped right back into it. She looked up to see the sun shining high above, with not a cloud in sight. Monroe grabbed some food for lunch and once again, they didn't stop for lunch, not when they could be there tomorrow. It was nice to know that her family wasn't always quite so dysfunctional, that they enjoyed each other and did normal family things, even if Maggie had always insisted there wasn't anything close to a normal family and that normal was just perceived by someone.

"Answer me another question, I know you were young when the Blackout happened, but do you remember anything about your uncle?"

"I remember one thing clearly, I was maybe 4 at the time and Miles took me for a ride in the car and he was singing and little me laughing. I know Miles didn't come visit it often. Hey was that the same car that he had fixed up with my dad?"

"I don't think so. He got a new car in between, but it's possible because your dad kept Miles's car in your garage, it still meant a lot to both of them. Well then how about I tell you another story about you and Miles?"

"Did he come visit a lot?"

"He tried to come as often as he could, but we didn't always have a lot of free time. This story is probably after your memory, but you were still young. During our leaves, Miles usually went to your house, while I'd go back to Jasper to be with my family. After my family died, your family was all I had left and Miles would not take no for an answer so I was dragged to your house for Christmas Extravaganza 2010. Really it was an excuse for your uncle and I to play babysitter to you and do all the Christmas things while your parents fussed over your brother, who was still having a lot of health issues."

"What sort of things do you mean?" Charlie knew that pre-Blackout, Christmas was full of lights and lots of silly traditions, but post-Blackout it wasn't quite the same. She tried to think back to when she was that little and remember anything about Christmas. It must have shown on her face because Monroe laughed.

"Sorry, you looked so serious there. Well for one thing, it was up to Miles and I to decorate the outside of the house with lights. And since your dad was working and your mom was fussing over Danny and you couldn't be kept away from your uncle Miles, that left me to be the one to climb up the ladder and hang all the lights around. Again, this about a week before Christmas, nothing like doing things at the last minute. I think the only good thing was that it hadn't snowed a lot, just a dusting. Then Miles gets it in his head to have little you tell me where I should put the lights. You were quite demanding at that age too," Monroe said as he turned to smirk at her. She laughed at this, knowing that she hadn't changed all that much since she was a kid, which might explain why Miles always called her "kid" because he still saw her as her little niece. She wasn't sure what to say next, but she didn't have to, as Monroe was slowing the horses down.

"I know you said we'd be there tomorrow if there are no more obstacles but it looks like the woods are clearing a bit. If we lose the trees, we lose our cover." She nodded in agreement and remembered how desolate parts of Texas were on her journey up to the Plains Nation. She let a breath she didn't know she was holding as she realized just how close she was to being back with her mother. The months apart had been good for Charlie and she had learned to forgive her mother, who was only doing what she thought was right, even if it wasn't always the best decision.

She jumped down from her spot and grabbed the canteens to fill them up with water. There were still some canned vegetables left, but she was craving some meat again and grabbed her crossbow. Monroe waved her off as he started to set up a small fire. With the stream not too far, she knew there'd be small game, enough from them to have some dinner. If they were going to be here any longer, she'd set traps out, but they were leaving as early as they could, since they were losing time by stopping early. Ah ha! Two rabbits, enough for both of them to have an enjoyable meal. She knew eating just rabbits wasn't the best, but they had some vegetables and any larger game would rot in this heat before they could get to Willoughby.

Even though they were both quiet during dinner, Charlie hoped he'd finish telling her more about the Christmas he spent with her. She only wished she could remember it. She hopped up into the truck after they had cleaned up and was about to set Monroe's sleeping bag outside when he grabbed her wrist gently.

"How did you sleep last night?" he asked her.

"Not as good as in the bed, but better than I've been in the Plains," she answered honestly, even if it scared her a little bit to think that she slept better on Monroe than she had while she was trying to kill him.

"It was the first night in a long time I haven't been plagued with nightmares. If you don't mind, do you want to do it again?" he asked hesitantly. She wasn't sure how to respond. She did sleep better and if it helped him too, well, that was just an added bonus. She places his sleeping bag next to hers in the truck and sat up against the back of the seats. Monroe climbed in next, making sure her crossbow was within easy reach for her, that she had her knife, and patted his side to indicate his sword was next to him. He pushed her forward a little to reach around, tentatively grabbing her hand and intertwining his fingers with hers.

"Now where was I?"

"Christmas 2010," she replied, settling her head on his shoulder and relaxing into his embrace. At least she wasn't going to be cold tonight.

"Right, so then your mom sent Miles and I out for some grocery shopping and you did not want to be left home. This led to an extremely long grocery trip and three gingerbread house kits. You wouldn't take no for an answer on those. Miles managed to distract you from getting all the candy at least."

"Why three gingerbread house kits?"

"Little you insisted that all three of us needed to make a house. As soon as we got back to the house, you wanted to do it right then and there. Your mom wanted us to keep you quiet since Danny had just gone down for his nap and he was a light sleeper. I decided to just go ahead and start, let Miles deal with you. So my house came out looking like the one in the picture. You didn't want to put all of the gumdrops and other candies on the house, oh no, you wanted to eat them. Then when your house wasn't as pretty as mine, you stole the candy from Miles's house, after he had already sugar glued it on. Your dad's face was priceless when he came and saw you grinning ear to ear, so proud of your house."

"I really wish I could remember this."

"You have Miles and I to remind you. But that wasn't even my favorite part of the setting up for Christmas. The best part of Christmas was your face Christmas morning as you raced downstairs, so excited that Santa came. But before that, Miles and I were in charge of picking out a Christmas tree. Miles insisted it wasn't Christmas without a real tree and once again, you didn't leave his side. Miles wouldn't let me leave his side either. We had waited a bit long to pick out the perfect tree so we ended up walking up and down the aisles of the Christmas tree lot, one hand attached to Miles, the other to me. You were so happy and giggling, Miles and I would look at each other and then pull you up to swing you," Monroe paused here and rubbed his eyes, Charlie thought she could see tears coming down but she didn't want to accuse him of manipulating her again, knowing that this story was just about happy times with her and Miles. "Sorry, I just remember how much you were like my younger sisters and how happy and sad I was at the same time. Miles knew I needed to be surrounded by happy things and you, you were like a little ball of light."

Charlie moved closer to Monroe and squeezed his hand to reassure him that everything was okay now.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again for the overwhelming response to this story. Most of the dialogue here comes from ep 2X05 "One Riot, One Ranger." I don't own Revolution, this is just for fun, enjoy!**

Monroe continued to talk about Christmas, but Charlie was only slightly paying attention. His voice had become soothing and melodic and with where she had settled, his heartbeat pulsated enough to put her at ease. He must have noticed that she wasn't paying attention to the story anymore because he pushed her off slightly and out of their sitting position so that both of them were lying down, with Charlie using him as a pillow. She didn't know how this was more comfortable for him, but she didn't worry too much because it was definitely more comfortable for her.

When she woke up, Monroe was already gone but he had put his jacket below her head so she still had a pillow. He was a sneaky bastard and she doubted that would ever change. She peaked out from the back and listened, trying to see if he was around or if anyone else was in the area. She turned to her side and grabbed her crossbow, just to be on the safe side. Monroe had learned her habits and always made sure to leave the crossbow within arm's reach, once he realized she wasn't going to kill him. At least they would be back in Willoughby soon and then Monroe wouldn't be her responsibility anymore. She wasn't sure how she felt in reality.

Yes, she wanted to just put the crazy psycho back in Miles's hands, but look at how well that turned out and there's no telling how Miles would react to Monroe's presence. But at the same time, in the past few days she had grown to enjoy Monroe. He was telling her stories she only wished everyone else would tell her. They also worked well together and he just had a sixth sense about knowing where she was and her blind sides. She liked having someone who knew her every move but she still couldn't trust him. Plus, she had no idea how long he was going to stay in Texas because he already confessed to her about his son and she didn't blame him in the slightest for wanting to leave. Family had pretty much motivated this entire journey. The loss of her dad and brother to finding Miles and convincing him to help her simply because they were family, she understood why Monroe wanted to find his son, but also knew he'd need to help Miles with this US government. They also need to solve the mystery of where this US government had come from and why now?

She listened for footsteps and heard what sounded like Monroe towards the front. He called out to her and she popped up to sit in her usual spot. He handed her the canteen and she washed her face before taking a drink and taking some of the offered food from Monroe. She settled in as he sat in his spot and grabbed the reins to lead the horses onward. She wasn't surprised when Monroe asked once again how much further.

"We should still be there late afternoon. We didn't lose too much time, considering," she answered.

"Still doesn't tell me where we're going. Since we're so close, you might as well tell me. We're going to want to scope out the area before we actually get there," he said matter-of-factly.

"We're going to Willoughby, Texas where my grandfather lives. When I was last there, we all lived with my grandfather. He's the town doctor and pretty well-respected. I'll be able to get in the gate no problem. You? You're the one we'll have to worry about."

"Worry less about me and worry more about what might have happened if the US government got your mom. That bounty hunter friend of yours," which led to Charlie snorting, "said these guys came up from Cuba and every bounty hunter probably had a stack of those papers. Who knows who might have caught up with your mom and Miles or if they had even moved on?"

"Well this is the best we've got."

"Fine, but when we get there, follow my lead."

"Fine," Charlie huffed out, pointing her nose in the air and turning to look the other way. She wasn't going to let him get to her, not when they were this close. Obviously he was now annoyed at her too because he wasn't trying to make her feel better by offering another story. Well that was fine by her. She was almost back to home, this was where her family was and she was ready to come back to them. She kept her eyes on the road looking for signs. When she saw the faded green sign that said "Willoughby 10 miles," she glanced to Monroe, who was still ignoring her after this morning's outburst. Once again, they didn't stop for lunch, just some food and water on the road. As they approached the outskirts of the old Willoughby, Monroe pulled off the road and stopped the truck behind a house.

Charlie wanted to rush in and tell her mom but with the sun setting, she understood why Monroe was settling in and making a camp. Today had been a silent day, no reason to expect tonight would be any different. Luckily they wouldn't have to sleep in the truck or outside. Even better was that this house had two bedrooms. Monroe had protested at first, only because the one bedroom was really just in the attic space and the other bedroom was on the opposite side of the staircase. She knew he was just being overprotective so she claimed the upstairs bedroom and just let him deal with it. A good night's sleep would do both of them some good towards getting along because she had to somehow get Miles to see Monroe tomorrow. How would she do that? Where would be good? Monroe obviously couldn't enter the gates. The easiest way would be to get Miles out of town but where? Monroe would probably have the answers, besides meeting Miles should be his problem, not hers. Tomorrow, she'd finally get to see Miles again, but she needed to get through tonight. She curled up under the blankets in the bed and drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up in the morning, the sun was bright in the sky with no grey clouds in sight. She looked around for Monroe downstairs, but he wasn't around. She peeked out the back window and saw him hoisting a ladder up the side of the house. He smirked, shook the binoculars in his hand that were originally in the back of the truck, and pointed up. She walked around back and headed up to sit on the roof with him.

"I figured the ladder would be a bit better than climbing the tree," he said before looking through the binoculars to take a look at what they were dealing with. "Well, God bless America." He handed her the binoculars and she got her first glimpse at just what had happened to the town that she left. The US flag was hung high above with guards stationed all around the gates. She didn't like the looks of it, though she knew she'd be able to get back in by saying her grandfather was in town, she just hoped he was still here too. She moved to get up and dash in to see what exactly was the status of her family when Monroe grabbed her wrist tightly and wouldn't let go.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked harshly.

"I'm going to find my mom. They might already have her," she said, as though he should have been able to figure it out himself. She needed to come back and let them know what was going and despite all of her issues with her mom, she was still family and there wasn't much of her family left. She had to protect what little was left.

"Charlie, wait, they have the town. We gotta be smart, scope it out first," he said, as she relaxed, knowing that he was right. Again, he managed to conquer a good portion of the old United States, he obviously knew a thing or two about scoping out the enemy. She heard several horses galloping closer and grabbed the binoculars

"Who the hell is that?" she asked, handing the binoculars to Monroe for him to take a closer look. They didn't look like Patriots.

"Texas Rangers would be my best guess."

"That's a good sign. Patriots and Texas will keep each other distracted enough for me to sneak in. What's the plan from here?" she asked, leaving it up to him on how to proceed.

"Remember the bridge we passed on the way here? That's a good meeting spot. You go to town, check in on Miles and your mom and bring Miles alone with you out there. I'll meet you there in two hours, got it?"

"Don't worry about me. You just worry about yourself," Charlie said to him as she climbed back down the ladder, waved him off, grabbed her crossbow and headed off to town. She kept back a bit, noticing when the Rangers were let in the gate before sneaking around to where she knew there was a weak point in the gate. Miles had put in there just for them and she knew it could be opened or closer from the inside or outside, but only by those who knew it was there. It also wasn't very large, just big enough for her and perhaps Miles or her mom, but they had only ever tested it with her. She approached her grandfather's house and kept to the bushes. Once she knew her mom and grandfather were safe, she headed in towards town to find Miles.

She saw Miles go into the sheriff's office and moved down the alley to wait for him to leave. She saw a can on the ground and kicked it towards Miles to get his attention. She smiled when she saw him, glad to know he was ok. He looked like he had seen a ghost, so she whispered, "Miles."

"Charlie," he breathed out, moving closer to her and she reached out for a hug. It was good to be home. When she released the hug, she pulled him back towards the horse stables for some more privacy to show him the bounty on her mom, knowing he wouldn't be as concerned about the bounty on Monroe, nor surprised that there was a bounty after him.

"I'll be damned," Miles said. She wasn't sure what else could be said. She was just as confused when she first saw the bounty too.

"Found it on a bounty hunter in the Plains," she said, leaving out the details of how it was Monroe who found the bounties after he had escaped from the bounty hunter in the first place.

"I don't get it, if the Patriots want Rachel, why haven't they just come and grabbed her?"

"You tell me," she shrugged. Knowing now that the Patriots had already gotten to Willoughby she was confused. What did they want with her mom and why had they not gotten her themselves? These Patriots or the US government or whatever they wanted to call themselves made no sense to her. Why send random bounties out and then save the town. They were insistent on having her mom and Monroe alive, but why put the bounties out in the first place if they were able to do the job themselves?

"You picked a hell of a time to come back, pretty sure we're in some real trouble," he added and she could only nod.

"What are you kidding? That's why I came back, to save your asses," she said, knowing it'd get a smirk out of Miles and she was right.

"Okay," he laughed at this, but then turned serious, "Miss you kid. Well let's go show this to your mom."

Now was her chance to drag Miles out to see Monroe. She wasn't going to blow it or have him drag her mom out too. She saw her mom was still her in Willoughby at her grandfather's house, that's all she needed to know. "Hold on. Come with me first, I want to show you something."

"Why?" Miles asked, but she wasn't about to answer that question, not yet. She didn't want to be the one that Miles directed his anger towards, let Monroe feel the brunt of that. One thing with Miles was that she didn't need to fill the silence, they could just travel along the river without talking. Of course, that couldn't last forever.

"You know she really missed you Charlie. I'm saying when you see you her again, go easy on her, ok?" Figures Miles would try to play peacemaker between her and her mom. She had done a lot of thinking in the Plains and as long as her mom had changed as well, then she could handle it. If her mom was still crazy or still bent on saving the world, well she was out of there, again.

"Yeah, I'll try to play nice, promise. Ok so now you need to promise me to not to explode or you know go crazy," she said. This was the moment of truth, how would Miles react to seeing Monroe again. She couldn't say she had grown fond of Monroe, but she definitely grown used to his company and hoped Miles wouldn't do anything too damaging just yet.

"Wait, huh? No, that's never a good thing," he trailed off at the sight of Monroe and stared for a bit before turning back to Charlie. She stared right back at him as he approached, with her standing back. She didn't want to get caught in the crossfire of whatever Miles was going to do, she just hoped no gun shots because those would draw too much attention to them, something she was desperate to avoid with the Patriots crawling around. Even though they hadn't captured her mom, there was no telling what they would do to Monroe, whose crimes were much worse, or at least much more well-known. Miles stalked towards Monroe, and Charlie followed, staying behind Miles as he spoke, "What did you to her?"

Monroe took a step back, "whoa. Nothing."

"I know you, you son of a bitch, what did you do to her?" Charlie was confused. As much she hated Monroe, what was Miles implying here? She saw the look in his eyes and when Monroe said, "I didn't touch her," she jumped right in front of them, "hey, hey, I wouldn't let him touch me."

Miles looked towards Charlie for confirmation, still not trusting Monroe. She couldn't really blame Miles for that but when Monroe spoke again, "I saved her life," it dawned on Miles what had really happened.

"You brought him here."

Yes, Charlie willingly brought Monroe to Willoughby. By this point, she was glad she had because he had kept her comfortable and with two people it made the traveling easier. She was glad she had gotten a chance to learn about her uncle and her family. She also got to see more sides of Monroe, not that it in any way excused him from still being a terrible person but he was a much more complex person than she ever realized. Seeing Miles again, she had to reconcile the Miles she had come to know with the Miles from Monroe's stories and now, here was the man who held so much anger towards the person who had ripped the family apart. She watched them stare at each other before Miles called to her, expecting her to follow. She had just spent months away and almost died, she wasn't going to let Miles walk away that easily.

Apparently, neither was Monroe. Now it was time for the face off between two people who had done so much damage to each other the last few years that it was impossible for them to go back to the way it was. She watched Monroe try to convince Miles and beg for a truce between them. She wasn't sure what Monroe's angle was, since she knew he was desperate to find his son. Maybe he was just waiting until she wasn't around because she definitely did not want to be a part of that conversation. Monroe had moved further away from Miles and Charlie now stood between them when she proposed that they just grab her mom and go.

Miles rebuked this by saying the Patriots were everywhere and here was a good place as any to make a stand. After Charlie mentioned that this was like starting a war, Monroe interrupted and said it was a good idea, like Ann Arbor. Great, more questions of things Monroe was bringing up that Miles of course was going to deny. Just like Alec in Atlanta where Miles was going to just have Charlie drop all of her questions. She'd just have to find a way to get Monroe alone later and get the details out of him, after all, she held up her end of the bargain. When Miles mentioned he needed to proof for the Texans, Monroe said "we'll get you some proof," looking towards Charlie as he said this. They had worked well the few days and at least now Monroe trusted her enough to help him. But did she trust him enough? He'd only leave too, like everyone else. Even Miles looked at her, confused as to why Monroe would say "we" and mean Charlie.

Miles led them to the rail yard where the Patriots had been the night before and Charlie figured now was a good time as any to leave the two of them to work it out with her far away. Monroe was just as good of a tracker as she was, but at least this way she'd be kept out of the crossfire of the two friends. She found the wagon treads that led out through the woods towards an abandoned settlement. She let the two of them take the lead and as soon as gunfire started, all three of them ran for cover. She deferred to Miles and Monroe to make the tactical decisions and when Monroe snapped back another city, she decided to add that to her list of questions. At the same time, she wondered if she would ever have someone that knew her so well, she could just sprout off random words like that and they would know exactly what she meant.

When Miles nodded in his agreement, Monroe threw the gun at her and the two of them took off, leaving her baffled as to what their exact plan was. She tried her best to just give them cover and hopefully it would all work out. Not surprisingly, Monroe and Miles were incredibly efficient at their goals and they were able to get their proof for Fry.

**This is the last chapter from Charlie's perspective. There will be one more chapter. Thanks again for reading, reviewing, and following!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here is the end of Road Trip Tales, I hope you enjoy it! I don't own Revolution.**

Bass knew staying in town was never an option for him. He was grateful Miles was at least bringing him some food. He supposed he did go a little overboard with how he handled Fry, but he didn't know how long Miles would have waited to get results. This way was the fastest way to start a war, besides Miles had tried to kill Fry years ago, what difference did it make now? The liquor he and Charlie had taken from the ranch was still hidden and he wanted to go get it, but it wouldn't do to draw any attention to himself. His hiding spot was vulnerable. He wasn't surprised that Rachel wanted nothing to do with him, after all the second she saw him, she grabbed a gun and tried to kill him. Miles tried to stop her, but only Charlie managed to actually stop Rachel.

Speaking of Charlie, he was surprised on the second day after his lunch visit with Miles, when she stopped by, waving a bottle of liquor and deck of cards. He had formed a sort of friendship with her while they were traveling and he appreciated her company. He didn't think she would consider him a friend, but he definitely didn't mind her coming to visit. He looked around his little shanty to see if there were any glasses and there was luckily an unbroken matched set. He pulled them down and sat down on the floor, motioning for Charlie to join him.

"It's not that I'm ungrateful for your visit, but what are you doing here?" he asked, wondering what her motivations for coming out here really were. He heard let out a long sigh as she sat down next to him and grabbed a glass, filling it almost all the way up with the liquor. He was sure she had never had that before or she wouldn't have poured quite so much for a first round.

"I can't stand being in that house. Mom's being super polite, Miles is in a huff and actually moved out of the house to some studio in town while I was gone. Aaron moved in with his girlfriend awhile back. So it's just me, Mom, and Grandpa," she started shuffling the cards and dealing them out, "Spit again? Distract me."

Oh, he could think of a million ways to distract her, but Spit would be a great way to start. That and the bottle of liquor she had brought? An unopened bottle of Jack Daniels, something that if the two of them sat here and drank, he could end up regretting some of his words. He watched her grab the glass and take a large swig, coughing as it burned going down. "Careful there. Jack is a sipping drink. It was much easier to drink with ice or chilled. Use to keep it stocked in my freezer."

"Can we be honest here? I'm sick of everyone avoiding my questions, it's one of the reasons I took off," Charlie asked. He noticed she took a smaller sip this time and seemed to enjoy the liquor a bit more.

"I don't see why not," he said as he took a sip of his own drink.

"What happened in Ann Arbor and South Bend?"

"Pretty much what you saw. Ann Arbor we used to different clans to fight it out against each other so that the Republic could gain control of the land. South Bend was just another one of those fights." He didn't see what the big deal was, it saved time when trying to come up with tactics to use ones that already worked, why was Charlie even bringing it up?

"Because I want a friend like that. I want someone who I can reminisce about different things with spout off random words. Hey, you also shouldn't be so mean to your friends. You really don't have any," Charlie quipped and that's when he noticed she was half through her glass already. He moved to push the glass aside so they could start the game and she tried to swat his hand away.

"If you plan on going home tonight, I suggest you slow down on that. Your mom will know immediately something is up."

"Let's just play the game."

Bass sipped his drink in between rounds, trying not to drink too much and instead savoring the flavor. He also needed to be aware because Charlie was clearly already intoxicated, though she could handle herself at this point. She wasn't drugged, just tipsy. Which is why it ended up being an easy round for him to win. The game proceeded pretty quickly since her reaction time had slowed that it wasn't much of a competition. When Charlie had finished her glass, she reached for the bottle, but Bass moved it out of the way. She got on her knees and tried to reach over, but he was faster and stood up as she fell over.

"Come back tomorrow, we'll play first and then drink."

"Only if you tell stories."

"Deal. Take it easy Charlie," he said as she dusted herself off and stumbled a bit before leaving his shanty. He leaned against the wall and slid down, sitting against the wall with his hands on his knees. What just happened? Charlie, who had sworn to kill him, had pretty much come to him looking for some sense of normalcy. She was right though, he probably should think his actions a bit more carefully. With the Patriots being here and he knew that there was a bounty out for his arrest, he wasn't safe anywhere. Not only that, but he needed to figure out how to tell Miles about his son. Even if Rachel had spilled the beans and told Miles, she didn't know the whole story, not like Charlie. Granted, in Charlie's current state she'd be quite unpredictable but he doubted she'd be the one to tell Miles, if only because she wanted to stay away from causing that explosion.

At least while he was in New Vegas, he felt safer under his pseudonym. For some reason, even though he was far out from town he still felt exposed. He glad he had gotten some decent rest the last few nights since he wouldn't out here. First, it was only him, even if Charlie wasn't the same as having Miles at his back, she was still good enough to defend herself when she wasn't drugged. She brought up another good point today about not really having any friends. Granted in the last year, he had been responsible for their deaths or pushing them away or having them turn traitor, but it was only when he was really alone out here that he realized it. After spending a few pleasant days with good company, he realized how much he missed it. He did miss his friendship with Miles and though they were on a truce now, it wouldn't go beyond that. Especially when he revealed the little detail about his son.

He wasn't sure how long he had stayed sitting down but it had grown dark out, so he ate some food before rolling out the blankets and settling in where someone couldn't see him but he'd be able to defend himself well. In the morning, he heard the Patriots march past but he made sure to keep hidden and under the radar. Miles knew the area well enough and said this place would be close enough to Gene's but far enough away that it wouldn't be too suspicious. He was glad to see Miles around lunch with some food, but there wasn't really any conversation. Just Miles discussing what he had found out about the Patriots and the Andover clan and how suspicious he was of the timing. Charlie had mentioned Randal's connection to the Patriots so he wasn't surprised when Miles also brought it up.

After Miles left, Bass wondered if Charlie would show up again. There was still a good half a bottle of Jack left, but he wasn't going to drink that by himself. He knew there was another bottle back at the house where they stashed their goods, when Charlie came he'd tell her to go get it and just give the whole bottle to Miles, he deserved it. He must have been lost in thought because he was startled when Charlie walked in and grabbed the sword, aiming it at her before dropping it just as fast and apologizing.

"You can make it up to me by telling a story," Charlie said as she moved to grab the glasses and deck of cards.

"Miles and I, we are excellent shots partially because of our training in the military, but when we were kids, we used to play with paintballs. Do you know what those are?"

"No, but go on."

"When we were teenagers, the thing to do was to take paintball guns, go out in the woods and shoot your friends. The paintballs were basically frozen gel and when they hit something, they splattered. They'd be brightly colored and even though they splattered, it still hurt if you got hit with them. We spent hours playing in the woods behind our houses," he smiled wistfully remembering those days, when everything was much simpler before their friendship had been destroyed, before both of their families had been ripped apart, back when it was just them against the world.

"So what you're telling me is that you were both always trying to kill each other even if you never have been able to?"

"You missed the point there."

"Then make your point," Charlie said, impatience written all over her face. He sighed, trying to remember where he was going with that last story when Charlie continued, "maybe you were just trying to tell me that you and Miles always took shots at each other, even if it wasn't always to kill each other."

"Maybe. Something you said yesterday, about having a friend who always knew you, that was Miles and I. I just never saw it coming." Charlie grabbed the two glasses and poured out some Jack, handing Monroe his glass and raising hers. They clinked the glasses together and murmured "cheers" before taking a sip.

"You have a chance to make up for it now. Just don't screw up. Little late for that though," Charlie as she dealt out the cards, hoping her reaction time would be a little better this time.

"I didn't have to think about my actions before," he began and Charlie snorted.

"That much is obvious. Let's just play cards and forget about it. Why don't you tell me something not Miles related about yourself?" She settled back and both of them set the cards out for a game of Spit.

"My sisters were much younger than me and my biggest regret in life is probably not spending enough time with them. Miles and I joined the Marines right out of high school. Cynthia was 9 and Angela was only 5. They were so young when I left and I pretty much only knew them through letters and pictures. Sure, I came home and saw them, but it's probably why I considered Miles and Ben my brothers rather than my little sisters. I grew up with Ben and Miles, I saw them on a daily basis. Sorry, I know you didn't want to hear about Miles, but he's part of my life. We can't quit each other it seems."

The afternoon proceeded mostly in silence, only teasing each other when they'd lose a close round of Spit. When the sky started to get darker, Charlie excused herself and didn't stumble out this time, Bass noticing she had significantly less to drink today. This continued for the next few days, with Miles bringing him food and Charlie joining him in the afternoon. He figured it was the time when everyone else was distracted and wouldn't notice her missing. Before Miles arrived one day, he had managed to capture a Patriot and gather what he thought was incredibly valuable intel, something Miles would see as a good thing, putting Monroe back on the good side. Then again, Miles wasn't the same person he was five years ago, he couldn't predict what would happen next.

What was with Mathesons and their inability to say thank you for doing the tasks they couldn't do? He knew Miles had gone soft, but just a few years ago, Miles would have already taken care of this. Maybe it was something to do with his hand and whatever had led to that. Charlie knew, he could tell any time he asked her about it during their afternoons, but she kept mum about it and said if he wanted to know so badly, just ask Miles, she wasn't playing messenger. Though she did manage to take all of the other liquor they had found and stashed it at her grandfather's house for "safekeeping." He just hoped she was planning on using it wisely and not just drinking it all herself.

Of course, Miles wasn't happy with him for killing another Patriot, but hey, if it got some results, that was a good thing. He was cooking something he had caught since Miles hadn't brought any food today, or conveniently forgot to leave it after he was annoyed about the dead Patriot, when he was smoked out of his shanty. At least Charlie hadn't come to visit yet this afternoon, and that was one thing he was incredibly grateful for. Unfortunately, with the bounty on his head, he wasn't surprised with what happened next, with them leading him through town. He saw the hurt on Charlie's face and the confusion on Miles's face at the fact that not only was he caught, but the Patriots and Texas were the ones working together to bring him in. He also wasn't surprised that he was to be executed, he was only surprised that it would be lethal injection. Where would they find the drugs that had lasted that long? Then again, this was Texas and lethal injection was their preferred method of execution prior to the Blackout.

While he sat waiting in the jail cell, he wasn't sure if he could count on Miles to come rescue him. Years ago, it would be a no-brainer, Miles would come rushing in, save the day and they'd be back to running the Militia. But of course, in those days, he also would save Miles. Now, he had no idea where he stood or what was going to happen. And what about his son? He had never found time to tell Miles. Charlie knew but it had to come from him, someone needed to find his son and make sure his son was safe and to tell him stories about him before he became General Monroe. What was it Miles was calling himself in Willoughby? Oh yeah, Stu Redman.

After they moved him to the bank vault for some unknown reason, he made his last request to see Stu Redman. When Miles came, he wasn't sure what to say. The words sort of flowed out and he wasn't really sure what he was saying. This was it, there was no escape now. This was his final goodbye. When Miles started walking away, he needed to say it. It just came out about his son and Emma. As for his last request, he just wanted Miles to make sure his son was okay, that's it. Miles gave no reaction to the news, which confused Bass at first until Miles said he knew.

Miles knew? How long had he known and then he had purposely hid his son? What kind of friend does that? Miles knew how he felt about wanting a family, especially since all of his family was gone. When did this happen? He lashed out, trying to move enough to be able to tackle miles, smack him, anything to unleash the anger he was feeling. The guards surrounded him and Miles left.

This was it, this was when he would take his last steps. He could walk himself and he would hold his head up high and die with what little dignity he had left. If nothing else, the revelation that Miles knew about his son had shaken him to the core, but at least he knew his son was okay and alive. With the way the world had turned out, he wouldn't be surprised if his son had been among the casualties. At least that was not the case. When he walked into the courtroom that was being used for his execution and saw Charlie, his last words to her were "take care of your uncle, kid."

Miles could take care of himself, under normal circumstances, but knowing how he felt when Miles had up and left him in Philly, he knew this wouldn't be easy for Miles to handle. Charlie had admitted at one point that when she found Miles, he was drinking himself to death in Chicago and even planned on doing that after getting caught by the Militia, until she had managed to convince him to come on her journey to rescue her brother. While at the front of the room, he looked to Rachel while an older man walked towards him and introduced himself as Gene Porter, Danny's grandfather and said it was honor to prepare him for execution. He shouldn't be surprised.

Once he was strapped in to the chair, he looked towards Rachel again and murmured, "I'm sorry." He knew it wouldn't make up for all the pain he had caused her family, but at least his last words would mean something. One of his last thoughts was that he hoped Charlie would give Miles the bottle of Jack tonight, at least it would be put to good use. That and he was glad she was not in the courtroom to witness this. Despite all of the pain and suffering he had caused her, she was still a bright spot of life and he didn't want her tainted by watching him die. He felt the needle jab into him and took his last breath, not knowing what the afterlife had in store for him.

**I've had a lot of fun writing this story and have a side story planned about the Christmas Bass told Charlie about earlier. Will post it soon. Hope you enjoyed the story and thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed.**


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